Hanna is not a Vault Name
by Isrut
Summary: AU/fallout 3. Hanna escapes from one of the Vaults a few years after that random escapee went on a wild hunt for their father. He meets find friends through he oddest of people, but will what really happened at the Vault come and take him from them?
1. Chapter 1

AU/Fallout 3

Hanna Is Not A Vault Name

Not many had escaped the vaults; Vault 101 had been the first place of break out with that chick that wanted to find her dad. And, only a few years later, another vault had its own escapee. _Hanna Cross, Age 24, G.O.A.T. results: Waste Management Specialist. Current position: Running the FUCK away from giant naked mole rats._ Armed with a hammer, pip-boy, and a damn baseball bat, he was off to a bad start as he had nothing he was confident with to fight them back. Clambering up the hillside, he could almost feel the ugly gnarled teeth of the very naked creatures at his heels. Once at the top he paused enough time to take a breath and to squint ahead past the bright sun, he saw what might be his saving grace ahead. He slid down the face of a hill, and quickly continued to move toward some houses up ahead.

It looked like a small abandoned town. Not even a town, with as few houses as there was, it might've been a village or park, as they called small groups of moveable homes. The short redhead ran to the first house, it was open, but half the house was missing which made it a bad hiding space. He moved quickly down the street, as the mole rats closed in. Then, there it was, a small trailer that was both unlocked _and_ was enclosed completely. Hanna was able to scramble inside, slipping once, and close the door, locking it before the rats got there. Strangled awful cries came clawing at the door; he swallowed thickly and gave a groan as he slide down to the floor.

"Gaawwwddddd, what was I thinking!" He grumbled as he rubbed his hands over his face. His blue jumpsuit looked baggy on his lanky frame. He had the pants tucked into his boots, and the first few buttons of the top undone to try and cool down. His red hair was in messy waves and curls on the side, some of it had been pushing into a fohawk, but it looked sad and wilted from the sun and amount of running. "Go on Hanna. You could probably blow the door off the Vault, Hanna." His hands moved with his voice as he poorly imitated his former friends' voices. He closed his eyes a moment and waited and waited for the animals to leave. Slowly, he seemed to fall asleep on the floor for a few hours.

He awoke with a grunt and he pushed himself up off the floor. It sounded like the monsters had left, but he wasn't about to leave quite yet. He adjusted his goggles, which he used now for traveling, finding it quickly easier to fix than having to constantly push up his glasses. Then he began to look around the place for something, anything that could help him. Beans, Nuka~cola, some bullets for the rifle on…the…dead body in the next room. Hanna blinked his azure eyes at the corpse, he had a seen a few dead bodies in the Vault, mainly of the old or sick, but this one was really super dead. He butted his boot against the body, once…twice…once more for good measure. Seemed dead enough, and looked like a raider. He awkwardly looked around before crouching down and removing the man's clothes then his own. Now his stupid blue jumpsuit had been traded for slightly used and bloodied tank-top, baggy pants, a pack and belted accessories. Now, at least, he wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb but instead looked like a kid in his fathers clothing.

Hanna shoved what he needed in the bag and tossed the baseball bat to the side as he found a way to holster the rifle and pocket his bullets. As he walked to the back door he stopped and took a few steps back, making a rather awkwardly happy "GNEE~!" sound as he walked over to find a bobble head T-rex. He looked around quickly and found some tape stuck to a table and he pulled it off and used it to attach it to his belt quite securely, giving the head a tap. "Alright Rex!" He cheered and attempted to kick open the door only for it to open before he touched it. His foot collided squarely into the hip of the person behind it and luckily for Hanna and the intruder, it only caused the man to stumble slightly. He pulled out his hammer and held it at the ready, seeming to forget his newly acquired weapon. Slowly the figure stood straight, since her had bent some in reaction to the kick. Bright blue eyes met cool amber eyes flecked with darker golds.

"That…was unexpected." Hanna's eyes widened as the man spoke. He wasn't just any man; it was a walking dead man, the first one he's ever seen. Stories made them sound like the monstrous, overly built, flesh eaten beings with no social interactions; things of Vault Horrors that the janitor would tell to kids who would listen. But this one was lean and tall; he wore a dusty orange shirt, a long duster jacket that seems riddled with holes and black pants falling over a worn pair of boots. His skin, though slightly in rot, seemed to still be more intact than others, scarred and pieced together in some places. His hair black as soot with ambling white streaks running through it, but most striking were his eyes.

"Uh….wow…" Hanna laughed awkwardly and looked down as he replaced his hammer. Seeing a hat, it must've fallen off in the collision; he leaned down and picked it up, patting off imaginary dust from it and holding it out to him. "You're the first….thing…that talks I've seen outside." He exclaimed as if it was normal. The ghoul took the hat back and settled it back on his head. "What's your name? What are you? Did you die and come back…or..." Hanna's question trailed as if the man could read minds.

"I'm a ghoul…and I don't know my name…" He said as he took a step in past Hanna and looked around the trailer and walked over to the fridge. It seemed that would be all he'd say on the subject too.

"You don't know your name! But…but everyone has a name." He said scratching at the back of his head before raking his fingers back through his flame colored hair. The ghoul gave him an odd look, slightly surprised the boy hadn't run off slandering his kind or freaking out.

"Guess it's more…I don't remember. People just call me things." He said as he pulled some colas and bottle caps from the fridge and placed them in his bag. "You're not running?"

Hanna seemed lost in though for a moment and looked back at him. "Huh?...Oh! No, why? You're about the neatest thing I've seen outside the vault! Man, that would show them, knowing I had a ghoul as a friend. Geez…" Hanna's thoughts trailed for a moment and he adjusted his goggles a moment. "How about Ishmael? That's a cool name."

Ishmael blanked a moment as he closed the fridge and laughed; his voice was a little scratchy but it sounded genuinely amused. "Friend? Ishmael? You're quite a person..."

"My name's Hanna." He held out a hand rather eagerly, the movement causes the T-rex to nod vigorously on his belt. "I escaped a Vault!" Ishmael took his hand and gave it a shake.

"Hanna…" Ishmael mused as he looked over the boy. He looked young, acted young, and couldn't be more than 16 just by looks. He sighed; he'd at least help him to the nearest human town. "There's a small town, with people, few miles from here. I'm heading that way. Do you want to come?" Hanna just nodded a few times and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Lead the way, Bailey!" Hanna exclaimed happily as he tested a new name for his new friend. Bailey knew then, it would be a long few miles.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, Eli, do you have ghouly friends?"

"Not really."

"Are there girl ghouls?"

"Yes"

"Do you have a giiirrlllfrriiieeennndd?" Hanna asked, drawing out the word much like a young teasing child. The redhead hopped along behind Eli as they moved over broken and barren land on their way to the nearest safe encampment.

"No, never really thought of getting one." He answered with a sigh. The ghoul felt like he had answered hundreds of questions already. Where the heck did this boy come from? Eli half thought about losing him, but he knew he wouldn't survive long out in these lands alone. The fact the damn thing didn't go running and screaming, or even shot him on sight gave Hanna points with the man. It was then that some notes began to trickle into his ears as Hanna played with his pip-boy.

_"So bongo, bongo, bongo I don't want to leave the Congo, oh no no no no no"_ He heard the human begin to sing softly with the radio that he seemed to be able to catch on the wrist gadget. _"Bingle, bangle, bungle I'm so happy in the jungle, I refuse to go._"

_"Don't want no bright lights, false teeth, doorbells, landlords, I make it clear_, _That no matter how they coax me, I'll stay right here."_ The ghoul drawled along to what remained of the Galaxy Radio's waves the reached this face out.

"No way, Sam! I didn't think you listened to this stuff!" Hanna exclaimed as he paused and bounced just enough for Rex to bob his head along. "Well, I'm sure you did…do… Just in the…uhm…where I'm from, we gotta be sneaky with this music."

"Really?" Sam craned his head to the side then turned since Hanna had stopped walking. "Most've us listen to it out here. There's a classical station out somewhere, and the other music isn't…some of our styles." He with a shrug then seemed to pause. Amber eyes trained slightly behind the smaller boy. "Hanna…" He said carefully but with a sense of warning.

"Hold on, hold on. Tryin' to get a better sound from this—"

"Hanna…I need you to come towards me." Sam said slowly, softly as he drew his gun. There was something in the brush, and it was following them. Hanna looked confused and took a few steps forward to question his friend. Then it seemed that the boy disappeared as something had pulled him down to the floor! It was a dog and not the nice kind. These crazy diseased dogs belonged to raiders or wild packs that roamed the abandoned areas. Not your cuddly house pets, though some people have been found with dog companions from time to time. They were the lucky ones.

Sam muttered something beneath his breath and took aim at the one on Hanna, but then whirled his gun around to the one leaping at him. Time seemed to slow for a few moments as he took his aim and launched off a shot hitting the dog square in the chest. Sam didn't even have to wait to see if the dog was dead to know it would be when it hit the ground, he shifted back to the one that went for Hanna just as a yelp and a whine came from that direction. The ghoul paused and held his handgun at the ready; his first thought was that he had already gotten the damn boy killed. However, Hanna still laid on his back, panting softly scrapes and bite marks on his shoulders and arms, his hand tightly fisted around his hammer. The brown dog, an almost hairless mass of muscle and bone, lay just off to the side, bloodied. His head had a large dent in it, obvious from where the hammer had met its final mark. Seemed the small boy had more in him than Sam thought. Amber eyes drifted around the area as he listened for more of the animals, or even worse to see if raiders may be hiding waiting for a kill.

"Are you alright, Hanna?" The ghoul asked finally as he reached out a hand to him. The red head took a moment before beaming up at him and taking his hand to gingerly pull himself up.

"Yeah, yeah, Jayne. Man, how'd you know they were there? I mean, WOW, I couldn't even…" Hanna trailed off into babble about supersonic hearing and bionic-eyesight, as he looked at his wounds. Some where bleeding, but he felt fine for the moment. And none of the metal clips holding his chest up seemed to come off either. It was a rather successful defense, in Hanna's mind. However, Jayne now that he head time to get a better look at Hanna seemed worried. _What was with all the markings and scars on his chest? Was he badly injured to start with? He seems too peppy to be badly injured…but…_

"You just get use to it, I guess." Jayne said shaking his head and looking around to get his bearings. "Come on, we need to get you to town, get those bites looked at." The ghoul began to walk off and paused to look at Hanna making sure he was trailing along. The town could be seen on the horizon, large makeshift fences built around it to keep out those beings that were unwanted out. The unwanted for this place was anyone who would stir up trouble as it was a town where ghouls and humans lived calmly with each other. Atleast, the not feral ghouls did.

However, Jayne had shifted his course towards what looked like a shed on the outskirts of town. Hanna bounded up to walk beside him. His eyes squinted from behind his goggles and he hopped down a hillside and waited at the bottom as the got closer. "What's that?" He asked his ghoulish friend. "I though we were going to town…" Hanna frowned lightly.

"This is where…uhm…a doctor lives." Jayne said awkwardly as he walked up to the shed door and gave it a few knocks. It was as if the ghoul had rattled the cage of a sleeping radscorpion. Some crashing and loud blaring curses came from the thin metal walls of the shack like house. Finally the door opened, but only a few inches, and it was hard to see the dark eyes in the, well, darkness of the shack, but the soft glow of the cigarette gave the sign someone was really hiding behind the door.

"What…What…" Said the rough grumbling voice, "What'cha botherin' me for, bloody zombie, fuck…" Hanna furrowed his brow lightly as the voice faded into grumbling. Jayne seemed unphased and took a side step to reveal the boy some.

"This is Hanna. One of the crazy raider dogs went at him. I couldn't think of anyone better to look at him than you, Luce." He said rather calmly as he placed a hand on the door and pushed it open, letting light into the room revealing the doctor inside. He looked like he had rolled out of the junk yard. Dark circles wrapped around his eyes, stubbly dirty face, and blonde hair that looked grimy and dusty. He had to be the thinnest lankiest thing on the face of the wastelands, his clothes hung off his skeletal frame. He wore jacket with bad fur trimming, looked like he sewed it on himself, some tight fitting pants that tucked into his boots, and two layers of shirts, a white undershirt and something that looked as if he was trying to be presentable.

Luce seemed to retract back some and squint against the light. It took a few moments for Hanna's brain to click and realized he was human, though he could've passed for a well taken care of walking corpse.

"Well, bring the little fucker inside." He said as he turned and trudged into the building. Jayne followed and Hanna tagged along, a bit unsure at first. However, once inside, Hanna seemed to move around like a curious pup and poked at things. The place looked like a bad place, makeshift tools, tons of needles and a metal table for a work table. On the far side of the room was a mattress and all around were beer bottles, cig butts, and empty medicine bottles. Surprising enough there was light from a few of the electric lamps around the room, some books that seemed to be about medicine and some interesting dusty objects on the shelf.

"Oi! Stop pokin' yer nose 'round my shit an sit on the damn table, pup." Luce said and Hanna jumped slightly, but gave an awkwardly laugh, pulling up his goggles to rest on top of his head. He had a dirt tan, leaving a bandit mask-like light spot over his eyes. He then moved to hop on top of the table, the small falter almost went unnoticed but anyone, but Jayne had a keen eye set on the boy. He started to move toward him to help, but he seemed to get up there fine before the ghoul could help.

"I'm ok, really." Hanna assured as he watched Luce come over.

"If ya was, Zombie-ass wouldn't've brought you 'ere." The doctor came over and looked at the bite marks; Hanna resisted wrinkling his nose as he smelt like smoke and staleness when he came near. The he let out a soft yelp and recoiled as the main prodded at the bite mark.

"Ooowww, Luuucceee."

"Shut it! It's Dr. Worth to you, pup." Luce sighed and went to a shelf and began to take out some liquids in strangely labeled bottles and some old bandages. "It in't so bad now, but iffin' you just leave 'em be, they'll get all infected. Ain't a pretty sight." He said as he came over and began to clean up Hanna's bite marks and stopped to ask Hanna to take off his shirt so he could wrap them. He seemed hesitant but agreed to and, slide off the few sizes too big tank-top and revealed the scared and but up body. Worth had to pause a moment, he had seen worse thing, but on Ghouls. Ghouls get stitched up like this, but Hanna wasn't a ghoul. He removed the cig from his mouth and placed it aside and poked at his chest, following the zig-zag of the scars and clips and looked up at him. "What the 'ell is this shit?"

Hanna slumped slightly to try and look smaller. "S'nothin'." Hanna mumbled. "Had an accident with explosive where I worked." He lied, well it wasn't really a lie. There were always explosions at work, but he just kept silent for the moment and looked off to the side. Worth was about to scold him and just shook his head.

"Lift yer arms." Worth grumbled, and half pushed them up anyway and began to wrap up Hanna's shoulder. Jayne watched quietly, observing Hanna's back, which had considerably less marks, and if anything seemed almost untouched. There were things it seems everyone hid from others, the wastelands weren't exactly a place for companionship and parties. It's a game of survival, yet it seemed that everyone Hanna has met seemed to become slightly tamer. Worth was one of the few doctors that saw anyone, but not everyone. He would patch up ghouls and the saner mutants, raiders and commoners alike, if they knew how to get along with him. Jayne brought him left over cigs and beer, if he could find some which made him a part time raider.

There were few others he seemed to get along with, in the loosest sense of the term. Most all of them came to Worth for help, and most all of them had something strangely different about them. As Hanna got poked and prodded by the slimy surgeon, Jayne took the moment to take a step outside and keep a watch for bands of unfriendly raiders, which was just about every damn one of them. The plan of what to do next mulled around in his brain. He could keep Hanna along for a while, he still wasn't sure where he came from but with every utterance, the though of a vault escapee crossed his mind. If so, Hanna needed to learn and learn fast, or he'd be dog food or worse. The sun began to settle on the end of an interesting day, but it was the start of something stranger. Jayne closed his eyes a moment, the bickering inside of what sounded like a stubborn child and a disgruntled old man was heard, but muffled, from the door. For the first time, in what felt like years, Jayne smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun hung low on the horizon when Luce came out of his hovel to nudge the ghoul out of his thoughts. "Damn kid pass'd out." The doctor grumbled as he pulled out a fresh cigarette and used an old, but working, lighter to ignite his habit. "But, I ain' 'bout ta worry. Fer someone so bloodied broken lookin', he's got quite a spark." The ghoul turned his head toward the doc and blinked his honey amber eyes.

"Seen anything like those scars, Luce?" He asked he adjusted his hat to rest on the back of his head as they kept watch. "He looks…normal, whatever that is these days…" He dragged his tongue over his teeth in thought as he moved his gaze from the doctor to the surroundings.

"Lis'n, zombie, don't dwell, yea'? He reaaallllyy ain' our issue. Don't know why ya' didn' leave him fer the dogs." Worth pulled from his cig and blew out a shuddering breath, as if the intake of the chemicals gave him pleasure and a recharge. "Kid's don' belong out 'ere, anyhow. Toss 'im next town." Luce seemed to pause a moment. "One…not near me."

The ghoul shook his head and opened the door. "I'll deal with him, don't worry Luce." He said rather flatly as he moved inside to look at Hanna. Once the door shut, Luce smirked around his cigarette, he knew they wouldn't be rid of the kid, but he had a face to keep.

Inside, he dropped his gun against a shelf and walked over to the table Hanna seemed to sleep on. He furrowed his brow as he observed the freckled faces red-head. The boy seemed as sprawled as he could be with his arms and legs half way hanging off edges and face sleeping on its side with the goggles pressing into his forehead.

"Well, that can't be comfortable." He sighed as he slowly reached out and paused, seeing the flesh of his own skin in contrast to Hanna's. It was a sight he still wasn't use to. Though he wasn't as fallen apart as others, some areas were still missing chunks of skin and badly discolored. A small sinking feeling in his stomach came and went as he decided to just do it. Zombie's hand reached out and took one side of the goggled lightly and slowly pulled them off Hanna's head, being careful not to wake the boy.

Like with any scheme which involved not waking someone, Hanna gave all the grumbles and groans like he dared to wake, but seemed to still remain asleep as the goggles finally came off. With a smirk, Zombie took the goggles and placed them on the shelf. Then a rustling came from behind him, he kept his ground awkwardly.

A still in dreamland voice spoke up from behind him. "Thanks Ellis." He murmured voice thick with exhaustion. What had Worth done to the boy? When Ellis turned to look at Hanna, he had one big blue eye open and the dumbest smile on his face before he slipped back under the covers of sleep.

The duo stayed at Worth's for the night. It wasn't a very pleasant one, but in the morning Ellis was able to grab a list of things Worth needed tracked down and some correspondents that hadn't touched base recently that needed to be found. Hanna seemed full of energy when he woke, and Dr. Worth was able to find the kids some Sugarbombs (one of the most sugar filled cereals around) for breakfast. Plans were made, things were discussed in private, and then Ellis and Hanna were on their way to the town near by.

The small town of "Shoot-first-ask-later" seemed worse off than that crazy place centered around an A-bomb. This shanty place seemed held together by duct-tape and glue at times, and seemed to be a rather good mix of outcasts: ghouls, raiders, families, and even a mutant or two. Those that lived here lived under a code that there was no fighting inside the town walls. It was a safe haven for those down on their luck or passing through to rest, no matter their place in society.

"Now, Hanna, this is the town. I need you to stay close." Ellis said to the boy as they came up to the guards. One guard was a female human who seemed to own a mostly normal looking dog. She was the first girl Hanna had seen outside the vault. Her hair was dark, long and curly with wild blue streaks running through it. The blue strands stood out against the tanned skin. Her brown eyes looked over the duo as Hanna examined her further. Her armor, though raider and spiky, seemed to accentuate her curves. Ellis gave an awkward smile and raised a hand lightly. "Hey Toni." He said before letting his hand fall to the side.

"Hey Joe, what's with the company?" she asked gesturing toward Hanna who seemed to be making awkward excited noises as she looked to Toni and then the dog near her. The canine companion looked like a wild wolf mutt, who was a soft golden color and grey and gold back stripe, however the wolf's eyes were an ice blue that seemed almost human. The dog took a few steps forward to look at Hanna, his lip curling lightly which made the boy frown.

"Ah…well…I kinda found him in a trailer." Joe explained gesturing toward Hanna and sighing. "He then got attacked and I took him to Luce." The ghoul admitted as Toni and him watched Hanna and the dog.

"You…you took him to the crack doctor!" Toni hissed to him and rubbed her hand over her face. "Who knows what's wrong with the kid now." She said flailing her arms toward the red head. "Lee! Lee get back here!" She said to her dog. Lee whined and slowly walked to his own and sat his butt down.

Hanna then stood up and walked over to Toni. "Hiiiii there." He said drawing out his greeting as he held out a hand. "I'm Hanna."

"Hey Kid, I'm Toni." She said holding out her hand, but before she could take his, Hanna pulled it back.

"Hey, I'm no kid. I'm 24, tha-a-ank you very much." Hanna shoved his hands in his pockets and grumbled when Toni began to snicker. Joe took the moment to cut it as he placed a hand on Hanna shoulder for the moment, not giving thought to his actions.

"Toni, interested in a vacation? I got some people to visit for Luce. I could use a hand." Joe offered as he slid his hand of Hanna's shoulder, which led him to wander over to the large mutant that was the other body guard.

"Huh, it'll be a nice change of scenery, and I know Lee's been wanting a good run…though I can't say he like Hanna much."

"I'm starting to think most dogs don't for some reason." He said lowly as he looked over his shoulder at Hanna who was drilling the mutant about what he was and how he got to be so huge. "I also don't think he'd last long alone…though he's might good with a hammer." The ghoul almost drawled, dragging the words out some. "We're going to head inside and pick up some stuff we'll need."

"I'll be here and ready to go." She said with a nod as she ruffled the fur on Lee's head. The ghoul smiled and moved to take Hanna by the wrist and pull him away from the mutant who looked displeased, but he probably always looked that way.

"Miiicchhaaaeelll, where are you—" Hanna was cut off as he stared into the town. He had never seen anything like it since he had been locked up in the vault. "Gnnneeee! Look at this place, it's so awesome." He said in an excited but hushed tone toward Michael. "It's like an western movie or something." The boy began to walk forward but Michael grabbed the collar of his shirt to stop him.

"Just wait a minute, stick with me." The ghoul had said a little gruffly. He took the lead and moved infront of the smaller male and began to glance around for a store or two. The problem was that everything looked like a metal shack, or a slightly fancier metal shack. But if you knew what you were looking for, you'd find it. Sure enough, there was a rusted shack with greenish paint peeling off of it. In some scrawling letters near the door it said _Toucey Supply and Junk Shop_. Anyone not looking for it would've mistaken it as part of the deterioration of the shack. Michael walked into the shop and looked around making sure his tag along was right with him. Coming in from a back room, which was just another shack tacked onto this one, was a man with slicked back black hair he had scars on his face and arms. His skin was tanned like one of those traveling merchants, and he was wearing the simplest of attire, a black button down shirt and a pair of jeans. How he came across them in as well condition he had them in only showed he was either in ok money standings or really knew the trading business.

The man stopped when he saw the ghoul and seemed to give an agitated groan. "Don't…no….just go." He said as he put the box down. "I'm not dealing with Worth's shit today." Michael laughed, almost, which made Hanna seem to perk up. He hadn't seen the man smile or look happy at all this whole trip. Or if he had he didn't notice. Hanna smiled lightly and made a mental note of it.

"I'm mainly here for myself, Lamont. Toni, this guy and I are heading out to get some work done." The ghoul stood there for a few moments and then tacked on in a grumble. "And I have a list from Luce." He said drawing out the slightly rumpled paper from his pocket and handing it to the man with an apologetic look. To this, Lamont grumbled and took the note, stuffing it in his pocket.

"Fine, what do you need?"

"One box…." Michael paused and gave a long side glance to Hanna. "Erm…Two boxes of stimpaks, food enough for two humans and a ghoul to get to the Towers, with a little extra for Lee. I'll take all your shotgun slugs and all the bullets for what ever Toni's been using lately." He reached into his pocket pulling out a bag full of bottlecaps and stopped for a moment. The ghoul leaned in close and asked softly. "Got any clothes that would fit him better?" The owner hung his head lightly before glancing at Hanna, chewing his lip in thought.

"Well…I might have some pants from a…rather unfortunate female raider that would fit him…and maybe some teen boy clothes or somethin'." With a sigh, Lamont pushed himself up off the counter and walked over to Hanna. "Oi, I got some clothes that might fit you, so you look less like a kitten in a sack."

Hanna, who was crouched down by some shelves, stopped poking some unlabeled cans and looked up at Lamont. "Eh? Really?" He seemed cautious at first, and then with out a second though jumped into the idea. "New clothes would be aawwwweesome.!" The excitement seemed to just burst from it, which made Lamont chuckle. The walked off toward the storage area, which once again left Michael with his thoughts.

He'd help the boy the best he could, maybe the Towers would be a good place for the overly friendly boy. The people there lived an almost normal life, but on the other hand, Hanna was starting to seem anything but normal.

A clearing of a throat caught Michael's attention, the ghoul turned around and saw Lamont entered carrying a box with all of the requested supplies; tailing behind him was a sheepish redhead. Hanna was now outfitted in skinny legged pants which tucked nicely into his boots, a light blue (and slightly tattered) Sugarbombs shirt. On top of it all was a brown jacket that was made of a durable fabric and sat right at mid-thigh on the short guy. Now, Hanna looked less like a boy in large hand-me-downs, and more like an unsure dorky teen, it was a step up. The goggles rested around his neck and he wore thick rimmed glasses in their place.

There was a small bout of awkward silence, Hanna had taken his place beside Michael and the ghoul was tempted to tousle the boy's hair but he was hesitant and pulled his hand back, nit before making a mental note to buy gloves later. "Let's pack our bag and go get Toni." He said nodding to Lamont in thanks as he placed down the bag of bottle caps and picked up the box.

Thanks for all the readers so far! I'm going to try and update once a week. Still awkwardly floundering my way through the story. If anyone has ideas on where to take it next, let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

With full packs the duo headed back to find Toni near the gates. She had changed out of her 'guard' clothes to something that looked more comfortable to travel in; it was still armor parts strapped to her body in various places. Lee seemed to realize they were going on a trip, some sort of inherent ability passed down through domesticated dogs. Soft whines and jerky movements showed he was ready to be the scout for the group. As the ghoul and Hanna came nearer, Toni stood and gave a rather relieved smile.

"I half thought you two weren't gonna come back for me." She said as she picked up her bag and slung it on her back. Then, she took up her gun keeping it in hand. "Did you get all you need? I see someone got new clothes." A smirk tugged at her lips and she gave Hanna a wink, and when pink flushed in the boy's cheeks she couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah…yeah! Max and I got stuff from Lamont, he seems like a nice guy." Hanna said looking to the ghoul and then it was like he hit a wall. "Oh..oh man!" _Hanna_ "I totally…did you pay for these?" _Hanna…_ "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't even think…I'll pay you back I swear!" _Hanna!_ "I'll search for bottle caps everywhere we go and—" He stopped as he realized Max was saying his name. Shyly, he lifted his gaze up to the ghoul, a first real look at him with out his goggles on. Bright blue eyes looked up at him questioningly, almost expectantly, it seemed to catch him off guard, but the ghoul recovered some.

"Don't worry…think of it as a gift." He said rather calmly before turning his amber eyes back to Toni who gave him an odd look before chuckling and shaking her head. Hanna seemed to watch him a few moments more. Sure, Max wasn't as badly deteriorated as others, but you could see where flesh was beginning to leave sections of his face and the sunken nature of his cheeks that he kept well hidden under his hat. However, it seemed his extremities, like his hands, were the worse parts. The redhead found himself staring at when Max looked over at him. While Hanna was in his own thoughts, Max and Toni had been talking about where they were traveling to and Hanna's silence is what had triggered the attention to him. "Hanna, snap out of it." He said quickly and with more aggressiveness than he needed. Max then moved his hands into his pockets.

Those words triggered bad memories like a dam breaking. His face fell slightly and Hanna seemed to struggle internally with himself over it. _"Watch it Hanna!" "Stop daydreaming, boy." "Snap out of it! Watch those explosives." "This ain' a game. These ain' yer toys." "Do you want to get us killed!"_ The voices rang out in his head, his body staying awkwardly still as he attempted to clear his mind.

Toni was the first to break the awkward silence, which pulled Hanna out of a surprisingly sad look. "Alright, we got snacks, a dog, and guns. Let's hit the road, shall we? It's a long way to the Towers." Hanna silently moved his goggles up over his eyes and adjusted his jacket. He then removed his hammer from his belt and began to walk off briskly in the general direction of away from the town. A looked of confusion crossed his face, did the boy take offence to him? Toni sighed and took Max by the arm and began to tug him along. "Come on, we can't let him get far ahead." She said to him.

"I…uh…" Max stumbled and regained his footing as Toni pulled him. "He'll…" His thoughts spun for a moment, maybe he should let him go, Worth said to dump him, but… "He should be fine, right?" Toni tossed him back a soft glare.

"You haven't been listening to GNR, have ya? There's a new vault escapee, and your little pet seems to fit the description. Do you think he'll be ok? You're probably the first ghoul he's ever seen, he probably doesn't even know what the heck you are. He's also stuck to you like Dr. Worth is stuck to his jacket." She let go of his arm still walking as she gave a rather odd command to Lee, who went off running in Hanna's direction. "I'd rather get him to the Tower's like you wanted, and then you can dump him if you want. Then we can get this over-radiated guy Worth needs something from and head back."

Max moved silently beside her, taking it all in. For some reason, it was almost as if he forgot. Hanna had said when he introduced himself that he was from one of the vaults, he didn't care to remember it then because he thought he'd be rid of the boy. But, the thought had tickled at his brain a moment and he looked to Toni. "What exactly…is GNR saying?" He asked her curiously.

"That he did something unspeakable to the vault, most of the people died in his escape and the rest and trapped in a now faulty facility. At least, that's what the radio said the reports from the vault were. Who knows how much is true…" Toni trailed off as the finally caught up to Hanna who was being herded to stay in one place by Lee.

"Lee! Lee! Stop! I'm not an animal! Stop! Ah, fuck!" He said as he tried to take a step forward and the dog went to threaten a bite to keep him in place. The boy looked absolutely flustered and frustrated. This boy couldn't possibly have cause that much havoc, but he was so new to this land his has lived under; Max knew he had to at least get him settled. If they had left him and found him dead somewhere, the guilt on both of their shoulders would be heavy.

Toni began to laugh and walked over and ruffled Lee's fur before clapping Hanna on the back of the shoulder. "Hey, relax. I thought we were gonna lose you." She said giving him a wink. Hanna relaxed slightly and then went to awkwardly rub at the back of his neck.

"Yeeeaahhh, sorry. Guess I just wasn't thinkin', excited to get going and all." He said as a grin crossed his features and he looked up at Toni. She used her eyes to signal behind him, and Hanna licked his dry lips and looked over his shoulder to spy the ghoul, who was keeping his distance some. "H-hey Charles, sorry for runnin' off."

He slid out from Toni's hand and walked over to Charles and went on giving some apologies and chatting lightly about how crazy Lee was. As Toni watched them she noticed something she hadn't seen in the ghoul before. He was relaxing slowly, shoulders dropping, a smile tugged at the edge of his lips as the boy from the vault went on with his long winded apology. How long has it been for the nameless ghoul since someone hadn't grimaced at the first sight of him, shied away from his touch, called him slanderous names, or even ran screaming? This boy, in a sense, was fearless. Toni knew it worried them both though, what if he tried to show the same friendliness to feral ghouls, or even the rebellious mutants, it's one of the reasons they couldn't just let him wander.

"Alright, can we finally go now? We'll never find a good camp by nightfall at this rate." Toni teased and pulled out a compass from her pocket to get her bearings. She didn't need much to know exactly where she was going. Most places she knew how to travel to and the area around them like it were the lines of her hand. "Come on, let's head north for a few hours, we'll hit the old supermarket and then head east from there." She said pocketing the compass and pointing in the direction.

"Alright! I'll get the tunes!" Hanna said as he half jogged to Toni adjusting his pipboy, Charles right behind him. He tuned into GNR radio and Toni seemed relieved that it was during a long stretch of music the DJ had. She wouldn't want Hanna hearing what the radio was saying about the vault. Loud enough for the group to hear, an old favorite of "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" came on and the small group began to move on with Lee and Toni leading them.

However, during the commotion they caught the attention of a small one man terror of the area, a terror in his annoyance more than dangerous. Using his binoculars, he watched the awkward trio and grinned with his sharpened teeth, he knew the ghoul worked with and for the Dr. Maybe it was time to drop Worth a visit. The young rambling raider turned and slid down the small hill he was hiding on and covered his eyes to protect them from the flying dirt. He seemed all too gleeful to wander of to Luce's place and kick open the door.

"Dr. Wor—" He was cut off by a fist being flung into his face. The boy stumbled back and growled. "What the bloody fuck! I come in here to visit you're sorry gayass shack and you punch me!" The rest of his words faded into disgruntled curses as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Well, if it ain' vasectomy, what's your sorry sharktooth ass doin' 'ere." Worth said as he walked over and gave the boy a kick to the side which made him topple over again.

"Veser. V-E-S-E-R. Not Vaser, not Vasectomy, not Vag. VESER! Fuck, never get me damn name right."

"Fag"

"Whore."

"What do you bloody want anyhow? You only crawl your ass here when ya' need somethin'…or stupid." The doctor stepped over the boy and closed the door. He looked down at the boy who was standing up again. He was no older than 19, a young raider. His silver hair seemed to be glued up in a fohawk 'fag style', as Worth would call it, and he had striking green eyes that stood out against the black rings around them. He wore what most raiders wore, huge boots with their pants tucked into them, an overzealous amount of ammo belts, and some goggles to bloc the sun. However, he was notoriously known for his grey torn, hooded jacket which looked like it had suffered a shark attack. Veser was known as 'shark-bait' behind his back.

"Saw big tall and dead walkin' off with wolf-girl and some ginger. Wanted to know what you gave them and not me." He said as he stood and dusted himself off, like it was helping him look cleaner. "I thought I got all the good jobs, not the wonder fucks."

Worth just grinned as he walked over to his 'desk'. "So, Hanna's still with them? Zombie was suppose ta kick em to the curb…huh." He snatched up a cigarette from the table and placed it between his lips to begin chewing on the end. "Maybe he knows somethin' I don't…I don' like not knowin' shit."

"I haven't heard nuthin' but 'waah waah, vault escape. Waah waah, many deaths. Waah waah—"

"What? Wai' what?" Worth seemed to growl and look around for his damn radio. He hated the thing, but kept it around incase something was needed, or to sell. He found it in his used needle corner and picked it up and tossed it at Veser. "Get GNR on tha' piece o' shit." He said as he walked to the other side of the room and began to look for something. "If that damn helpless, dog meat of a kid is a vault escapee, we got some work ta' be doin'."

Well, here's part four. I think I have a plot in mind by this point, I just have to have it make sense…in the long run…

Thanks for reading!

I'm still taking any suggestion for the story line.


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